- The Ravens. And the rich get richer. They got Sergio Kindle, a first-round talent, in the second; they got even deeper on the defensive line by snagging Terrence Cody (with him next to Haloti Ngata, who's going to run on the Ravens?); they upgraded their biggest weakness on offense, TE, with two promising projects; and got some solid depth (and, in Art Jones, talent) with later picks.
- The Eagles. They went in with a ridiculous number of draft picks, and made good use of nearly all of them. They needed a pass rusher to complement Trent Cole, and picked up his clone Brandon Graham; they needed depth at safety, and they picked up the most well-rounded FS not named Eric Berry in Nate Allen; Charles Scott, Jamar Chaney, and Jeff Owens were all great late-round pickups (mid-round projections for all of them).
- The Seahawks. Great first draft for Pete Carroll. He picked up Russell Okung, a premier pass-blocking left tackle; Earl Thomas, a great coverage safety (or possibly zone cornerback); Golden Tate, maybe the best wideout in the draft; Kam Chancellor, Taylor Mays-lite; Walter Thurmond, a top-tier corner when healthy; and Anthony McCoy, as talented a tight end as any in this class. Just a great draft for a team on the ropes.
- The Jets. Pound-for-pound the best draft of any team this year. They might have gotten the draft's best corner in Kyle Wilson (clearly Rex Ryan is down with the capital CPT, and who's going to throw on the Jets now?), a ridiculously talented but raw interior lineman in Vladimir Ducasse, and great value picks for the backfield in HB Joe McKnight and Kentucky FB John Conner.
- The Titans. Terrific draft for the Titans. They got three of my favorite prospects in WR Damian Williams, OLB Rennie Curran, and CB Alterraun Verner, to say nothing of Derrick Morgan, who might be the best DE in the draft. Plus, safety depth and talent in Myron Rolle and Utah's Robert Johnson.
- The Raiders. Not completely out of left field, although I will admit that I thought they'd draft Bruce Campbell a lot sooner. McClain was a great pick for their burgeoning 3-4 defense (the skills I thought he'd bring to Buffalo will apply in Oakland), and Lamarr Houston is a talented, penetrating 3-4 DE. They addressed the biggest questions on the offensive line with some high-risk, high-reward OTs in Jared Veldheer and Bruce Campbell. Jacoby Ford will improve their return game, and Walt McFadden is a good corner.
- Honorable mentions: the Bucs, Lions, and Packers.
- The Jags. Just a laughably bad draft. Even if Tyson Alualu pans out (he's not that risky of a prospect), I find it hard to believe that they couldn't find anyone to trade down with.
- The Bills. There were a lot of reaches here, but the real issue was drafting CJ Spiller with that top pick. I love Spiller and think he warrants every one of those comparisons to Chris Johnson, but Buffalo had to address its lines. Meanwhile, they already had a good corps of RBs and two excellent returners.
- The Browns. I like TJ Ward, but he was a huge reach in the second, especially with more pressing needs (and better safeties) on the board. The same could be said of Montario Hardesty.
- The Broncos. Regardless of what you think of Tebow, the Broncos definitely panicked moving up to get him. DeMaryius Thomas has some huge question marks and Zane Beadles could have been had later (really? no Golden Tate, Josh McDaniels?).
Some other thoughts:
--I really, really liked some of the Chiefs' moves in this draft. I would've put them on my winners list if they'd waited a bit longer to jump on Arenas or had been able to get Terrence Cody. A youthful secondary of Eric Berry, Kendrick Lewis, Brandon Flowers, Brandon Carr, and Javier Arenas will give the Chiefs a ton of versatility and one of the better defensive backfields in the NFL. The more I think about it, the more excited I get. Tony Moeaki and Dexter McCluster give the offense some excellent new weaponry, and Jon Asamoah is a potentially great guard.
--I was taken aback when the Saints drafted Patrick Robinson, which pretty much seals Malcolm Jenkins' future as a free safety in this league (where he belongs). I wasn't terribly high on Robinson, but he does fit Gregg Williams' bump-and-run coverage schemes. Also, Charles Brown at OT was a terrific pick; an already-good pass protector who might allow Jammal Brown to finally go back to RT (or be traded). Loved the Matt Tennant and Al Woods picks, too, although when the hell are we going to get an outside linebacker?
--I'm shocked that Bryan Bulaga fell that far (stupid Bills) and that Anthony Dixon lasted to the sixth round (smart 49ers).
--Jerrah Hughes! Loved that pick for the Colts, which finally gives them a long-term answer to the age-old question, "How boned are we if Dwight Freeney goes out with an injury?" Not at all, at least not anymore.
--Selvish Capers was an awesome pickup for the Redskins so late in the draft; he's got the makings of a great zone-blocking RT.
--Thanks to the Patriots, I can keep on hating Brandon Spikes as much as I already do.
--A matchup to watch for next year: the Saints' preposterously talented interior line vs. the Bucs' penetrating rookie DTs Gerald McCoy and Brian Price.
--The Bengals had two quintessentially Bengals (Bengalian?) picks in Carlos Dunlap and Geno Atkins; so much talent, so little production.
--For what they had available to them, the Bears had a pretty nice draft; Major Wright can start immediately at FS, DE Corey Wootton was a huge value at that point in the draft, and Dan LeFevour is an intriguing project at QB.
--Absurdly Premature All-Rookie team:
QB: Sam Bradford
HB: Ben Tate
WR: Golden Tate; Dexter McCluster; Dez Bryant
TE: Tony Moeaki
OL: Trent Williams; Russell Okung; Jon Asamoah; Mike Johnson; Maurkice Pouncey
DE: Jerry Hughes (Jerrah Hughes!); Brandon Graham
DT: Ndamukong Suh; Gerald McCoy
LB: Rolando McClain; Rennie Curran; Sergio Kindle
CB: Joe Haden; Kyle Wilson
S: Eric Berry; Earl Thomas
KR: Jacoby Ford
PR: Javier Arenas
No comments:
Post a Comment